Delaware woman jailed for false charge against Chesco trooper

WEST CHESTER -- A routine car stop in southern Chester County that evolved into a professional nightmare for a state trooper from Avondale has been resolved entirely in his favor.

Last month, a Delaware woman admitted in Common Pleas Court that she had lied repeatedly to state police when she alleged that the trooper who had arrested her during a traffic stop had indecently assaulted her.

The accuser, 21-year-old Victoria Elizabeth Henry of Newark, Del., told three different state police officials, including an Internal Affairs investigator, that the trooper had placed his hands on her buttocks for 10 to 20 seconds. She said his sexually suggestive behavior had distressed and offended her and that she felt disrespected, according to court records.

But when a police investigator viewed a video of the incident, it became clear that the trooper had done nothing wrong. And when shown the video during an interview with the Internal Affairs officer assigned to the case, Henry admitted she was wrong about what had happened.

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On Oct. 26, Henry -- a college dropout whose attorney says is going through family turmoil -- was sentenced to one to 12 months in Chester County Prison. She was ordered to begin her sentenced immediately and was led from the courtroom in tears.

She celebrated her 21st birthday in prison on Nov. 1, and may not be released in time for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Common Pleas President Judge James P. MacElree II, who imposed the sentence, told the woman and her attorney that he would have given her additional prison time but for the fact that the prosecution had recommended only a month in prison.

On Thursday, MacElree without comment denied Henry's request for a modification of her sentence that would allow her to be released from prison immediately. Her attorney, Varghese Kurian of Philadelphia, wrote that Henry's sentence was unwarranted.

One month is prison for the misdemeanor offense of false reports went above the standard range for such an offense recommended by the state sentencing guidelines, Kurian wrote in his motion for a sentence reduction. "A first-time offender, Ms. Henry immediately took responsibility for her actions. She has demonstrated her remorse and repentance," he said.

But Assistant District Attorney Thomas Ost-Prisco, who prosecuted the case and recommended the sentence to MacElree, on Friday said the sentence was fair and proper.

"This was a very serious case," Ost-Prisco said in an interview. "This was not a situation where someone was giving police a false name to get out of getting a ticket.

"This woman repeatedly lied, not once, not twice, but three times, about the trooper's conduct," he said. "She placed the trooper's career and his personal life in jeopardy. She was given multiple opportunities to change her story, but she refused to do so. Only when confronted with video evidence did she admit that she was not really truthful."

According to court documents and background information, the case began at 12:35 a.m. on Feb. 21. A pair of state troopers stopped a car they had seen running a stop sign at the intersection of Route 896 and Flint Hill Road in London Britain, near the borders of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. The driver appeared to be under the influence, and the troopers took him into custody.

There were three people in the car, including Henry and another passenger, and the troopers called for backup to help when an initial search of the car found a small amount of marijuana.

One of the troopers from Avondale who responded was Timothy O'Connor, a patrol officer. O'Connor was assigned to frisk Henry and place her in handcuffs for transportation back to the Avondale barracks for processing, which he did.

Ost-Prisco said that O'Connor's interaction was captured from the Mobile Video Recorder (MVR) in the patrol car of the troopers who made the initial stop, Trooper Justin Marquis and Trooper Brian Olszewski. The prosecutor said that O'Connor is seen patting down Henry's legs, going through her pockets, and bringing her hands around her back to place handcuffs on her. There was no improper contact, he said.

But sometime after Feb. 21, Henry called the Avondale barracks to complain about O'Connor's behavior with her, telling the call taker at the barracks that he had groped her. She repeated the accusations to Corporal Steven Ranck, who had been assigned to contact her, in a telephone call. Ranck passed the allegation to the state police Internal Affairs division, and the matter was assigned to Sgt. William Tucker, an 18-year veteran of the state police, on March 26

According to the arrest affidavit filed in the case, Tucker opened an investigation into the allegations, part of which was the view the tape of the incident captured on the MVR. He said the video showed Henry's search by O'Connor, and concluded, "her allegations were not supported."

On March 28, Tucker met with Henry at a neutral site, a local firehouse, said Ost-Prisco. He interviewed her after he showed her a statement form based on Ranck's conversations with her. Asked her if the accusations were accurate, she said they were.

Tucker then interviewed her himself, and said in his report that she confirmed the previous allegations about O'Connor's behavior. He then produced the video from the MVR and asked her to watch the search. At the end of the tape, Tucker said, Henry "acknowledged the MVR did not support her allegations and requested to withdraw her complaint."

Henry was arrested in May and charged with false reports.

According to Kurian, Henry "immediately" apologized to Trooper O'Connor, explaining that she had been high on marijuana at the time and "believed what she had reported." He said Henry's family life was in turmoil, her father suffering from cancer and her other from emotional problems, and she was working more than 60 hours a week to earn money to return to college.

Henry applied for ARD, an alternative sentencing program for first offenders, but was denied.

Ost-Prisco said that his office's concern was that Henry had not been equivocal when making he accusations against O'Connor, and had repeated it with conviction. "Had it not been for this video this trooper may have lost his job, and his marriage," he said.

Trooper Corey Monthei, the spokesman for state police Troop J, said that he was not certain what restricted status O'Connor had been placed on following Henry's false accusation, if any, but that he had been back on active duty for several months. In August, he was the lead investigator in a fatal crash in West Marlborough.